at the oracle arena. history tonight, win or lose, the last game for the warriors in oakland. it is game six of the nba finals. >> go dubs! breaking news tonight. collision course with iran the u.s. now blaming iran after two ships come under attack, set on fire, the crews rescued, raising new fears about the security of a key shipping route for much of the world's oil. tonight, as a war of words escalates, growing fears of a major confrontation in the region. the backlash against president trump after he says,s, he migh accept damaging information from another country about opponent, as democrats and a few republicans condemn his remarks, and tonight, word of a major departure from the white house. our exclusive interview with anita hill what she says about then-senator joe biden and how he handled her allegations of sexual harassment against clarence thomas decades ago. the question

to be the democratic nominee against donald trump? >> my candid conversation with a war veteran who stepped away from a promising political career >> it feels like admitting weakness, but the truth is, it takes more strength than anything. >> reporter: jason kander on his struggle with ptsd years after serving in afghanistan. and the firestorm over comments by actress jessica biel what she says about vaccinating children >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening, and welcome to our viewers in the west. the white house tonight is accusing iran of attacking two massive oil tankers in the middle east, forcing sailors to abandon ship and u.s. warships racing to render aid secretary of state pompeo calling them unprovoked attacks, claiming intelligence points to iran as the culprit, but not offering specific evidence so far. images of the stricken vessels in the strait of hormuz ratcheting up tensions tonight as

the world braces for washington's next move our keir simmons has late details >> reporter: tonight, the u.s. accusing iran of carrying out a blatant attack on two oil tankers. a fire raging on board. the japanese owner of one vessel saying it was targeted twice the u.s. navy raced to provide help, but the iranian navy said it rescued some cre members. now the united states blaming iran, but not providing detailed proof. >> these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security >> reporter: iran denies involvement nbc's ali arouzi is there. >> reporter: here in tehran, leadership quickly calling the attack, quote, beyond suspicious, asking why iran would target a tanker carrying japanese cargo just as the japanese prime minister is here holding talks with the supreme leader trying to diffuse tensions. >> reporter: oil prices spiked today. the stricken vessels in the gulf of oman near a vital

passageway for petroleum. last month, four tankers were hit here. this afternoon, the u.s. calling an emergency meeting of the u.n. security council. oil tankers in flames, an ominous moment in a region ready to ignite at any time. tonight, secretary pompeo vowing to keep up the economic and diplomatic pressure on iran president trump saying it's too soon to think about a deal, tweeting, "they are not ready and neither are we." lester >> keir simmons, thanks i want to bring in chief foreign correspondent richard engel. you've spent a lot of time in that part of the world. you've covered the war in iraq. do you get the sense we may be creeping towards war here >> reporter: well, we may be inching toward war, and we are certainly on a very slippery slope the u.s. and iran are locked in this cycle where you had increased tension, followed by an attack, and then an e is pattern can take us in the middle east before one former senior u.s. military official told me, this is president

trump's most difficult foreign policy crisiset. >> richard engel tonight, thank you and now to president trump and growing backlash this evening from his explosive comments that he would be open to accepting damaging information about a political opponent from a foreign power with more on that, here's kristen welker. >> reporter: tonight, after the president's stunning statement, a scathing response from outraged democrats >> the president gave us once again evidence that he does not know right from wrong >> it's outrageous. >> reporter: all after the president said this when asked whether he would accept information about his 2020 opponent from a foreign power or call the fbi -- >> it's not an interference they have information. i think i'd take it, if i thought there was something wrong, i'd go maybe to the fbi. >> reporter: but his own fbi director was clear when he said last month his agency would want to know if a campaign were contacted by a foreign entity under any circumstance >> the fbi director is wrong. >> reporter: the president defending himself today, noting he recently met with the queen and prince

of wales "should i immediately call the fbi about these calls and meetings how ridiculous!" most republicans silent only a few had stern words. >> it would strike at the very heart of our democracy. >> i think it's a mistake. i think it's a mistake of law. >> reporter: federal law makes it illegal for a foreign national to make a direct or indirect contribution of money or other thing of value to a campaign the questiist of value tonight, democrats pushing for clearer laws on interference as house speaker nancy pelosi pushed back against mounting calls to start impeachment proceedings. >> what we want to do is have a methodical approach. >> reporter: meanwhile tonight, a federal watchdog agency is calling for the president's top adviser, kellyanne conway, to be fired, saying her frequent attacks against ploy s fromviolate a gigang in politics the white house calling that decision deeply flawed. and tonight, the

president announced press secretary sarah sanders is leaving after nearly two years in the role, and mr. trump expressed hopehat she'll run for governor of arkansas lester >> kristen welker at the white house, thank you. tonight, anita hill's first tv interview since former vice president joe biden entered the race she recently made headlines saying she was not satisfied with his apology for how she was treated during the clarence thomas confirmation hearings chaired by the former vice president here's andrea mitchell with their candid conversation >> reporter: is there anything that he could say to you that would make it right? >> you know, i don't think it's a matter of what he could say. i really want our leaders to stand up and say, what happened in 1991 will never happen again what happened in 2018 with the senate hearing will not happen again. >> reporter: the brett kavanaugh hearings bringing back the trauma of the clarence thomas confirmation nearly three decades ago. >> do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> i do. >> they were traumatic not only for me, but methere.

stoic and so brave >> my parents were so and my concern was that i couldn't protect them >> reporter: anita hill's frustration even after the me too movement and with women now on the judiciary committee, not enough has changed. did you identify with christine blasey ford? >> i definitely did identify with her, because it was still that intense pressure from this group of panelists on the committee who really didn't seem to understand the issue of sexual harassment at all. >> reporter: have you had any contact with her? >> i have, actually. i have. >> reporter: while biden has apologized to hill for the way he led the thomas hearings, she does hold him responsible as chama rule him out candidate. >> i don't think it has disqualified him. he's perfectly capable ofrunning for president. >> reporter: nor does she put him on a par with president trump, who's been accused and denied allegations of sexual assault. >> absolutely not. i've never said that and i've never intended to say that, and i'm not even sure

that anything i've said has actually hurt joe biden's campaign he still is leading in the polls. >> reporter: could you conceive of voting for joe biden if he turns out to be the democratic nominee against donald trump >> of course i could. >> reporter: and looking forward -- >> i want our leaders to stand up and say, i understand that this is a serious problem, that women are not safe in the workplace, they're not safe in our schools, they're not safe in our streets, and that we are going to use the government resources to eliminate the problem. >> reporter: andrea mitchell, nbc news, new york. authorities in memphis are investigating the shooting death of a 20-year-old suspect in a confrontation with u.s. marshals trying to arrest him last night. it led to a large protest by residents of the neighborhood when it turned violent. police used tear gas to control the crowd several dozen officers were injured. tonight, actress jessica biel is setting the record straight about her stance on vaccines after she joined forces with a prominent antivaccine activist to oppose a

controversial bill here's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: actress jessica biel wants everyone to know she is not an anti-vaccer after she and robert kennedy jr. lobbied against a california bill that would compel more parents to vaccinate their children the "daily beast" published this headline -- "jessica biel comes out as antivac activist," fueling a passionate response, both support for and backlash against the 37-year-old. today, she writes "i support children getting vaccinations, and i also support families having the right to make educated medical decisions for their children alongside their physicians." the proposed law would require the department of public health to review all medical exemptions from vaccinatio vaccinations, potentially overruling doctors. >> there unfortunately are physicians who are basically selling inappropriate medical -- >> reporter: rfk junior says the

government shouldn't decide, adding if a statement "i am not antivaccine. i am calling for safer vaccines." kennedy's own brother and sister strongly distance themselves and the rest of their ticle, "he hass views, helped to spread dangerous misinformation over social media." over 1,000 cases of measles have been reported this year, the largest annual number since 1992, and it's only june as the numbers go up, the fight over vaccines grows this week, jessica biel put herself right in the middle of it. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. k >> oscar-winning and has been charged with forcible touching after a womacu a bar on sunday. gooding denies the charges and his attorney says he will plead not guilty. next, our series "my big idea," giving the 2020 candidates a chance to tell voters what makes them stand out from the crowd tonight, mayor pete buttigieg tells harry smith about his big

idea to change our democracy. >> what's your big idea >> my big idea is to strengthen american democracy. i'm afraid we're taking our democracy for granted. >> reporter: he's young. he's openly gay. >> this is where the renewal began -- >> reporter: and he's the mayor of south bend, indiana, population just 102,000. >> i recognize the audacity of doing this as a midwestern, millennial mayor. >> reporter: we sat down with mayor pete, as he's known in his hometown, at peg's restaurant that's peg america over time has grown more democratic, and i think that's a good thing, but it's not a one-way street metis we've taken steps backwards. and i'm afraid we're living through one of those periods. it's becoming harder to vote and harder to make sure that your vote counts. >> reporter: buttigieg wants same-day voter registration nationwide, wants to grant statehood to puerto rico and washington, d.c., and, he says, the electoral college has outlived its usefulness.

>> twice in my young lifetime i've seen the american people overruled by the electoral college. it's time for that to go because it's undemocratic. >> reporter: the presidency decided by popular vote, easy to embrace by democrats, but republicans defending rural states and red states will surely recoil. >> so, maybe when we make this reform, we set it to take effect in the 2030s, when it's not clear which party's going to benefit. but at the end of the day, i think most americans of any party ought to be able to get on board with the idea that one person, one vote, counting equally, is the fairest way to choose our president. >> reporter: he says it would strengthen our democracy. the pete buttigieg big idea harry smith, nbc news, south bend, indiana. >> more tomorrow when julian castro talks about his big idea a war veteran who stunned the political establishment last fall when he suddenly dropped out of the race for kansas city mayor to deal with his ptsd is now speaking out. jason kander was

pursuing his political ambition, even as he quietly struggled with the demons of war. in a conversation day, he opens since you, i think, shocked a lot of people with your announcement so i think it's fair to say, how are you doing? >> i get that a lot. i appreciate it. i'm doing a lot better it's worth it to get treatment. it's been really worth it for me. >> reporter: since his deployment to afghanistan 12 years ago as an army intelligence officer, jason kander has struggled with depression and anxiety. >> i went almost 12 years without a good night's sleep. i mean, just violent nightmares every night. i kept telling myself, you know, i should not be dealing with this now. i should feel better by now. >> reporter: though he often traveled off base into unpredictable situations, he didn't see action >> it was a big part of why i would always explain to myself that that can't possibly be what it is i never wanted to claim something that wasn't mine. i never wanted to act like i had done more than i had >> reporter: when he returned home from kander ente

public service and was poised to become kansas city's next mayor, until -- was there a moment that said i've got to get out of this race, i can't do this? >> yeah, it was in the kitchen and me crying pretty uncontrollably. i wasn't crying because i had to get out of the mayor's race it was like the realization, oh, i got wounded over there. >> reporter: he put life over ambition, dropping out of the race and admitting weakness, but the truth is, it takes more strength than anything. >> reporter: so what was going on with you? i mean, were you having suicidal thoughts >> yeah, i was, and a big part of why i made the announcement i made is because they had gotten worse than they had ever been i read somewhere where somebody said that either you deal with your trauma or your trauma deals with you. >> reporter: like many veterans, kander signed up after 9/11, supported by his wife, diana, who would eventually realize ptsd can be contagious diana, we think of

ptsd as something that one person suffers with, his issue. >> yeah. >> reporter: it's really your issue as well, isn't it >> if you live with somebody with ptsd and they have all the symptoms that they have, you can't help but be affected by it. and it affects spouses, it affects children. >> reporter: together they made the decision to speak out is this just one more act of public service to the extent that other people have gotten the same wake-up call >> yeah. i think it's the most important thing i've ever done in public service, probably the most important thing i'll ever do. >> reporter: for kander, politics remains on hold. right now he has exactly what he wants and needs. >> i'm getting to make up for lost time being a dad and trying to be a superdad we have a t-ball game on saturday. i'm the coach, which is something i never thought i was going to have the chance too. that's the stuff that i'm really excited about. >>e well hi silce -- don't ignore the feelings, they are real, go and

get treatment, he says. we'll take a break. just ahead, new fallout from that hit series about the central park five, and this time, it involves the lead former prosecutor in the infamous case. and the major upgrade tonight to improve your weather forecast before disaster strikes stay with us

tonight, more fallout from the most-watched series on netflix over the last couple weeks about the wrongful conviction of five teenagers for an attack on a jogger in new york here's kate snow. >> did you go to the park on the night of april 19th >> reporter: 30 years after she questioned and then prosecuted the young men known as the central park five, elizabeth lederer is stepping down from a teaching position at columbia law school, saying it was best, given the nature of x portrayal ofblicitynetf the central park case. >> they are guilty. >> reporter: ava duvernay's miniseries has drawn critical acclaims, reaching many younger viewers who weren't alive in 1999. >> a series like this

paints the picture of what it is like to be a person of color in america. >> reporter: it's the latest example of a dramaic account of real events prompting a reckoning years later. another key figure, prosecutor linda fairstein resigned from several boards and was dropped by her book publisher, but she says the series "attempts to portray me as an overzealous prosecutor and a bigot and the five suspects as innocent of all charges against them none of this is true." in a special last night, oprah asked duvernay about fairstein's response. >> it's not about her, really not all about her. she is part of a system that's not broken it was built to be this way it was built to oppress. it was built to control. >> i am so happy and ecstatic that we can start the conversation now to make sure there will never be another central park five. >> reporter: an injustice three decades old spurring new calls for change

kate snow, nbc news, new york. up next, t comg to your weather forecast

next tonight, first major upgrade in decades to give you even more accurate forecasts when severe weather is on the way. here's kerry sanders. >> reporter: it's been 40 years since the federal government improved the computer technology that forecasts this type of extreme weather. >> tornado >> reporter: but this week that all changed. the national oceanic and atmospheric administration has upgraded its computer system, vastly enhancing forecast accuracy. >> if you think of the american weather model as a corvette, we're replacing the engine with one that is higher performing and more efficient. >> reporter: the agency still inputs data from weather balloons, satellites, buoys and airplanes. the new system now better able to analyze and predict a major weather event. >> euro a little slower, the american

model off to the west. >> reporter: noaa hoping to match those european models so often used before big storms and for those in hurricane zones like along st. pete beach, that will help residents better decide whether to stay put or whether they must get out with an approaching storm. lester >> kerry sanders, thanks. up next tonight, the remarkable girl "inspiring america."

tonight's "inspiring america" is about a 10-year-old girl whose perfect penmanship tells a story you have tse >> reporter: they say handwriting can reveal a lot about a person that may never have been more true than with the perfect penmanship of third

grader sara hinesley >> it's kind of like art. you kind of have to think before you do it >> third grader sara hinesley [ applause ] >> reporter: today awarded a national prize for handwriting, only made more amazing by the fact sara was born without hands. >> having no hands might seem hard, but i try to figure out a way to do it, and i persevere through what's difficult for me. >> reporter: whether it's climbing a wall or playing ball. even the recorder is no match for the tiny 10-year-old. they have a family motto -- >> be good, be mighty, and do your best. >> reporter: for her fellow students and teachers, it's pure inspiration. >> whenever you think you can't do something or something's hard, i look at what sara has to overcome. >> reporter: what do you want to be when you grow up? >> a lawyer, then the president, and then become a judge. >> reporter: a young girl with big dreams, determined to write her own story. kristen dahlgren, nbc

news, frederick, maryland. >> got a funny feeling she's going to realize those dreams that's "nightly news" for this thursday. i'm lester holt. for all of us at rite now at 6:00. tired of being a victim. one man into. and how it landed him in jail. >> we talk to the man accused of impersonating a cop. several times in the bay area. >> calling in back up. the big hotel dealing with power problems during this the hottest week of the year. >> the news at 6:00 starts now. good evening. >> nightmare stay at the high priced hotel in downtown san jose. the marriott without power and air-conditioning for 36 hours during the peek of the record breaking heat.

average rate about $500 a night. do they get a refund? >> the power is back on. presumably thanks to this big thing. a huge generator. this is not arrive until about 36 hours after what guests describe as unbearable heat. and darkness. >> it happened during the hottest day and recent memory. 104 for concord. so the they are checking out. it was tuesday at 3:30 when they say things got crazy. >> i was sitting in my room. everything went quiet. >> stopped on a d